Ch. 17: Reconstruction and Its Aftermath 1865-1896 Why It Matters: We had survived our worst war, but the end of the Civil War left Americans to deal with a set of pressing issues. The status of some 3.5 million former enslaved people had yet to be decided. Nor had the terms by which the former Confederate states would rejoin the union been decided. How Americans would handle these issues would shape the future of our country. The Impact Today: Debate over the rightful power of the federal government and the states continues to this day. Americans continue to wrestle with the problem of providing civil rights and equal opportunity to all citizens.

Section 1: Reconstruction Plans Main Idea: Differences over how Reconstruction should be carried out divided the government. Key Terms: Reconstruction Amnesty Radical Freedmen

Reconstruction Debate Americans faced many difficult issues over how Reconstruction, or rebuilding the South, should be carried out. Before the war was over, Lincoln proposed in 1863 the Ten Percent Plan for accepting Southern states back into the Union. Ten percent of the voters of a state had to take an oath of loyalty to the Union Then state could form a new government and adopt a new constitution banning slavery.

Reconstruction 1. Lincoln wanted Southerners who supported the Union to take charge of the state governments. 2. Lincoln offered amnesty, or forgiveness, to all white Southerners who were willing to swear loyalty to the Union, except Confederate leaders. 3. He supported giving educated African Americans or those who served in the Union army the right to vote. 4. Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee established governments under Lincoln’s plan in 1864. A struggle occurred when Congress refused to seat their representatives.

Radical Reconstruction A more radical plan proposed by Radical Republicans called for a tougher approach to Reconstruction. The plan called for breaking up Southern institutions. Radical Republicans controlled Congress, they voted to deny seats to any state reconstructed under Lincoln’s plan.

Reconstruction Debate Congress developed its own harsh plan in July 1864 by passing the Wade-Davis Bill. 1. A majority of white males had to swear loyalty. 2. Only white males who swore they had never fought against the Union could vote for delegates to a state convention. 3. Former Confederates were denied the right to hold public office. 4. If a new state constitution abolishing slavery was adopted at a convention, then the state could be readmitted to the Union. 5. Lincoln refused to sign the bill. He knew, though, that he would have to compromise with the Radical Republicans.

African Americans Another difficult issue-how to help freed African Americans. The Freedmen’s Bureau, was established to help former enslaved persons. Distributed food and clothing, provided medical services, and established schools staffed mostly by teachers from the North.

Freedmen’s Bureau Helped African Americans buy land and get jobs and receive fair wages. Gave aid to new African American higher institutions of learning, such as Atlanta University, Howard University and Fisk University.

Lincoln Assassinated! The country mourned the death of a man who saved the Union and helped African Americans win freedom. One the evening of April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was shot while attending a play at the Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. His assassin, John Wilkes Booth, entered the box Lincoln was sitting in, shot him in the back of head, and escaped. Lincoln died a few hours later at the home of a nearby tailor.

Lincoln Assassinated! Vice President Andrew Johnson became the president. As a former senator, he was the only Southern senator to support the Union. He called his plan for the South “Restoration.”

Restoration 1. Most Southerners would be granted amnesty once they swore an oath of loyalty to the Union. 2. High-ranking Confederate officials and wealthy landowners could only be pardoned by applying personally to the president. This was his way of attacking the wealthy leaders who he thought tricked Southerners into seceding.

II. Lincoln Assassinated! Cont. 3. The president would appoint governors and require them to hold elections for state constitutional conventions. 4. Only whites that swore their loyalty and had been pardoned would be allowed to vote. 5. Before states could reenter the Union, its constitutional convention had to denounce secession and abolish slavery. 6. States had to ratify the 13th Amendment passed in January 1865 that abolished slavery.

Lincoln Assassinated! By the end of 1865, Johnson declared Restoration was almost complete because all the former Confederate states except Texas had established new governments and were ready to rejoin the union.